Wang's visit was a good opportunity to clarify Nepal's position that the MCC is only for for development
On Saturday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka and his counterpart, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held official talks at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu covering all important aspects of Nepal-China relations and cooperation, which is expected to further consolidate the ties between the two countries. Wang, who is also China's State Councillor, had arrived Kathmandu Friday on a three-day visit to Nepal after a whirlwind tour of other south Asian countries. His visit comes a month after Nepal's Federal Parliament endorsed the $500 million U.S. grant under the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) compact on February 27, which had not only generated a lot of controversy in the country but also comments from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wang's visit was, thus, a good opportunity for Nepal to clarify Nepal's position that any development assistance from a country would be utilised solely for development purposes and that it would never accept any project with political and other conditions.
Nepal's firm commitment to the One China policy and not allowing any activity against China on Nepali territory is the bedrock of our relations with the northern neighbour, and Nepal's reiteration at the official talks should allay any fears it harbours.
Following the bilateral talks, the two foreign ministers had witnessed the signing and exchange of nine agreements and documents. Prominent among them are the agreement on economic and technical cooperation; technical assistance scheme for China-aided feasibility study of the cross-border railway project; feasibility study of Nepal-China power grid interconnection; protocol on the safety and health condition for export of haylage from Nepal to China; and exchange of letters on duty-free treatment to be provided by China to imports of 98 per cent of goods of Nepali origin. Surprisingly, none of the agreements fall under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Although Nepal had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation under the BRI framework in 2017, no project has been identified so far under the BRI, with Nepal seeking more grants to loans while the BRI projects are funded largely through loans at high interest rates with short repayment periods. Nepal's wariness should be understood in light of the severe economic crisis that has befallen Sri Lanka after it defaulted on its debt repayments to a host of lenders, including China.
It is unfortunate that Nepal has not been able to prioritise where it wants to spend the Rs 56 billion that Chinese President Xi Jinping had announced during his visit to Nepal in October 2019, of which Rs 11 billion will be provided this year under the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation. Both the governments must follow up on the nine agreements that have been inked while expediting the execution of ongoing projects. It is simply inexcusable that the expansion of the 29-km Ring Road, for example, has taken nearly a decade because the Nepali side cannot give road clearance. At the same time, negotiations must continue for an agreeable mode of financing of any BRI project in the future, given Nepal's very weak exports, so as not to default on its loans.
Water tap facility
Easy access to clean drinking water is still a luxury for the rural population. Clean drinking water not only helps prevent most water-borne diseases, but also helps maintain sanitation in the surrounding areas and personal hygiene. Provision of a water tap in every household in the rural areas will make life easier, especially for women who otherwise must spend hours fetching impure drinking water in water vessels far away from their homes. Much has been done in addressing this pressing problem over the past decades. But we still need to do more so that every household has drinking water facility.
The pledge by the Chief Minister of Gandaki Province to provide one tap to each household is a welcome move. The province has launched the 'one house, one water tap' campaign, which can be realised provided all the stakeholders work together. The most challenging task that lies ahead is the sustainability of a drinking water project, which costs a lot of money for its construction and effective management afterward. The consumer groups in the rural areas must create a revolving fund and have skilled hands to keep the drinking water project running without financial and technical support from the government all the time.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
